@Avalon0412
Hi
I performed this surgery twice this year. I did not have access to lidocaine or any other anaesthetic and I am aware that too much can kill them anyway, so I took the decision to do the surgery without any anaesthetic, as she would die without it.
She was on her feet and eating within 10 mins of the surgery and 2 weeks later, she was back up to weight and laying eggs again, so I would encourage you to go for it....I have no medical training either but I watched a few You Tube videos (I hadn't seen this one until today) and that really helped.
The mistake I made the first time was to operate with her lying on her side.... she refluxed during incision and aspirated some vomit..... I thought that would be the finish of her but she recovered even without antibiotics and after 3-4 days of wheezing and raspy breathing, she came good, so definitely have someone hold her in this upright position.
Tips:-
Make the incision quite high up in the crop so that there is less chance of seepage if the closure is not totally fluid tight.
Incision only wants to be about an inch long.
Make sure you get all the material out and as one of the other contributors said, flush with saline made from boiled water and table or sea salt.
Blot the crop incision lips to remove excess moisture and use Super Glue.... I was sceptical but it worked brilliantly and so much quicker than sutures.
I left the skin incision open and just gave it a good coating of an antiseptic cream....I was worried that the Super Glue would not seal the crop and didn't want it seeping under the skin, so left it open in case it needed to drain..... it didn't.... but I didn't feel like leaving the wound open was a problem....chickens recover from some pretty desperate wounds from attacks and injuries without stitches, so I was confident my small clean incision would heal without being closed and it did.
Because she had respiratory problems as a result of aspirating, I didn't want to handle her too much, so I didn't dress the wound during the following days, just kept her living space clean and she healed miraculously.
She was on her feet and eating fermented feed as soon as she was released by my partner who had been holding her for me.
Like in the video, I got a soft ball sized clump of fibrous material (soggy straw) from a bantam pekin ..... it was nearly heavier than she was. Interestingly mine did not smell bad at all.... literally no smell, but I think fermented feed may have helped prevent sour crop developing.
She did not hold it against me for operating without anaesthetic and was just as friendly after surgery as she was before. I have also read of a bird being operated on by a vet quite recently and dying from the anaesthetic, so weigh up the risks carefully if you are able to obtain lidocaine.
Sadly my little hen went back to eating bedding and a few months later she developed the problem again. I left it too late before I opted to perform the surgery a second time and although the surgery was successful, she was too weak to recover.... I was heartbroken as she was such a sweet little chicken, but she clearly had a psychological problem that drove her to eat straw..... a bit like me eating chocolate, even though I know it's bad for me.
Anyway, I wish you luck with your girl and if I can be of any further assistance in respect of answering any queries you might have, please shout up.
Keeping my fingers crossed that it goes as well as mine did with Vippy. I'll post a link to my account of it and the photos of what I removed and her wound healing.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ns-xxx-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/page-33
Post No 330 in that thread documents my surgery and post No 333 was the crop surgery video I found most helpful.
Please update this thread with how it goes.
Hi
I performed this surgery twice this year. I did not have access to lidocaine or any other anaesthetic and I am aware that too much can kill them anyway, so I took the decision to do the surgery without any anaesthetic, as she would die without it.
She was on her feet and eating within 10 mins of the surgery and 2 weeks later, she was back up to weight and laying eggs again, so I would encourage you to go for it....I have no medical training either but I watched a few You Tube videos (I hadn't seen this one until today) and that really helped.
The mistake I made the first time was to operate with her lying on her side.... she refluxed during incision and aspirated some vomit..... I thought that would be the finish of her but she recovered even without antibiotics and after 3-4 days of wheezing and raspy breathing, she came good, so definitely have someone hold her in this upright position.
Tips:-
Make the incision quite high up in the crop so that there is less chance of seepage if the closure is not totally fluid tight.
Incision only wants to be about an inch long.
Make sure you get all the material out and as one of the other contributors said, flush with saline made from boiled water and table or sea salt.
Blot the crop incision lips to remove excess moisture and use Super Glue.... I was sceptical but it worked brilliantly and so much quicker than sutures.
I left the skin incision open and just gave it a good coating of an antiseptic cream....I was worried that the Super Glue would not seal the crop and didn't want it seeping under the skin, so left it open in case it needed to drain..... it didn't.... but I didn't feel like leaving the wound open was a problem....chickens recover from some pretty desperate wounds from attacks and injuries without stitches, so I was confident my small clean incision would heal without being closed and it did.
Because she had respiratory problems as a result of aspirating, I didn't want to handle her too much, so I didn't dress the wound during the following days, just kept her living space clean and she healed miraculously.
She was on her feet and eating fermented feed as soon as she was released by my partner who had been holding her for me.
Like in the video, I got a soft ball sized clump of fibrous material (soggy straw) from a bantam pekin ..... it was nearly heavier than she was. Interestingly mine did not smell bad at all.... literally no smell, but I think fermented feed may have helped prevent sour crop developing.
She did not hold it against me for operating without anaesthetic and was just as friendly after surgery as she was before. I have also read of a bird being operated on by a vet quite recently and dying from the anaesthetic, so weigh up the risks carefully if you are able to obtain lidocaine.
Sadly my little hen went back to eating bedding and a few months later she developed the problem again. I left it too late before I opted to perform the surgery a second time and although the surgery was successful, she was too weak to recover.... I was heartbroken as she was such a sweet little chicken, but she clearly had a psychological problem that drove her to eat straw..... a bit like me eating chocolate, even though I know it's bad for me.
Anyway, I wish you luck with your girl and if I can be of any further assistance in respect of answering any queries you might have, please shout up.
Keeping my fingers crossed that it goes as well as mine did with Vippy. I'll post a link to my account of it and the photos of what I removed and her wound healing.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ns-xxx-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/page-33
Post No 330 in that thread documents my surgery and post No 333 was the crop surgery video I found most helpful.
Please update this thread with how it goes.
Last edited:
I saw the photos and really hoped that she had made it.... then I read the text
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